Adhd - Winder, GA

My daughter (now 10) was taking straterra for a couple of years, I waited until 3rd grade to put her on it, it worked for a while, but then just gradually either quit working, or she got immune to it. either way, it didn't work anymore and she was on max dosage. I don't like having to medicate her, but without it she has no impulse control. Now she takes Focalin twice daily and seems to be doing fine with it. Concerta is another one that my doctor reccomends.

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My son is also 7 and for three years they have been telling me to put him on medicine. When he started school he was doing horrible..He couldnt calm down enough to listen and learn anything. I felt so bad for him he was struggling and he had very little self confidence. I finally agreed to put him only on 5 miligrams of Focalin and it has did excellant for him. All his grades have went up and hes calm and can think clear and has so much more confidence and belives that he can do it.Sometimes kids minds race so much they just cant think clear. I did change his diet and stopped giving him so much sugar and of course that helped to. Anyway most people are against it but I did it to help him and I dont regret it a bit. Good luck.

I have a 16 yr old that has been on every medicine out there for ADHD since he was 4. He is now on Strattera and doing good both in school and out! He was put in behavorial class in the 3rd grade and finally got out at the end of 7th grade (he is now in the 10th). I had taken him off whatever drug he was on at the time and the school had a fit. I told them that I wasn't going to give him medicine if it wasn't going to work and that if a new drug ever came out I would be more than willing to give it a try. They sent us to a psychologist and he mentioned Strattera. After talking to his doctor and knowing it wasn't a schedule II drug I agreed to give it a try and I am glad I did. His grades have picked up and he actually wants to do good. He has IEP plans in place and his teachers are both understanding and helpful. When he first started taking Strattera he didn't have much of an appetite and was tired alot, but now he has a healthy appetite and is very active. He is in JROTC (which I think has helped), he plays bass in a band and also plays basketball. I use the band as leverage when discipline is needed (which is few and far between these days) because he loves it so much. Oh the horror stories I could tell...but from then to now he has done a complete 180! I also have a 10 yr old that is on Adderall and has gone from failing to A/B honor roll. He is still a little on the wild side, but I hope he too gets better as he gets older. The main keys are structure, patience and always follow through with whatever you tell him. I know everyone's situation is different and I hope this in some way will help you. I wish this group was around 12 years ago! Good luck and God Bless!
D.

Hi B.. My name is Keesha and I have a 8 year old son with ADD. I tried avoiding it as well in the beginning, but it only got worse. His 1st grade teacher brought it to my attention at first and because we had other issues with her i thought she was just "picking" on him. Then he entered second grade and his teacher approached me about it and I had him evaluted by a psychologist and it was confirmed. He was put on Concerta and it has been great. He's been on it for almost 2 years, I see the difference in his performance at school and his attention spand here at home. He only takes for focusing purpose and being able to concentrate at school. He's recieved awards and alot of praise. The second week he was on it he came and said, " Mom, that medicine you gave me made me pay attention". Thats when I knew I did the right thing.The side effects are different in everyone like they say some kids stop eating, have sleeping problems. We've witnessed none of that. Try giving it a chance, I can't speak on Strattera but the Concerta is great.

B.,
When my son was in Kindergarten his teacher suggested he had ADHD and needed to be medicated before she could teach him.
I was clueless back then and took him to his Ped. who of course , was all too happy to put him on meds. He wanted to put him on Ritalin but having grown up with a few kids on it, I declined. So in turn he prescribed Adderall. Well, my son got depressed, lethargic, many times he could hardly eat. When he did eat it was as if he were starving yet he couldn't keep his weight on. I found out that the M.D. gets an incentive for prescribing those types of drugs. Also, they are addictive. A persons liver has to produce extra amounts of bile to push the drugs out and noone has ever tested to find out what effects that has on the liver over extended periods of time.
Sorry, I know this is long.... Anyways, I changed doctors and the next one put him on Concerta. He started out doing better but after several months he started getting depressed and all again. We changed him to Strattera, which is supposed to be a lot better. Supposedly, it doesn't attack the brain. I moved here to TN and we started to see an Internal Medicine DR. She asked my opinion and gave me her honest opinion. We both agreed that my son was better off without meds and just needed a little more support. Once I made the school staff aware that he would not be medicated and they would actually have to handle him things go better. My son doesn't run around the place but he does make weird noises and tries too hard to make friends ( which doesn't happen alot.)
All in all, I never medicated over the summer. Just during school cause Florida schools told me that was the only way he could be there. He has been unmedicated for over 2 years and is actually doing a lot better.
I wish you luck. If your doctor hasn't clued you in on all the long term effects or doesn't have a clue his/herself, I'd seek another Dr opinion. I trust a Internal Medicine Dr.
If you can afford it and haven't already, you should maybe have him tested by a psychologist. They can tell you if he might have symptons of something else. Also look up info on the meds. Know what you're putting into his body.
Good Luck
A. H

MY son takes Strattera it is a great medicine. I use rewards systems with my son and his behavior as well as homework, and grades. You have to set yours as you can. We use money for good grades and we subtract so much off of the top for each c or d.. This has worked for us. He is 11 and been on Strattera the same dose for 3 years.

I just learned about a patch called Daytrana. I too went through the same thing. My son is 6 but was diagonis when he was 3. I wanted him to take Strattera but because of other medical issues he could not take it. He is currently on Adderall. But I am looking into this patch. From what I read it is about the same as current medications for ADHD. Here is a website that might can help you some www.adhdprogress.com. It help you manage your child and their adhd and issues you might need to dicuss with your doctor and child's teacher. It has helped me a lot. Hope this information can be of some help.

Hi B.. I'm sorry I dont have any suggestions, but was wondering how they determined your son had ADHA. I have a nephew that the whole family thinks something is wrong with him, but the parents are in denial about having him checked on. The mom says his pediatrician says there nothing wrong, but he went to preschool and they told him that they thought he had ADHA. He is now in Kindergarten and is in a regular class, but has a OT and can go to another room if he needs to, to get one on one help. Just curious as to how you knew your son had ADHD. Thank you for any help you cna give me.

Hi B.,
I have 2 children that are ADHD. One is now 19 years old and the other is 12. When my 19 yr. old was in the first grade we had him put on ritilan and I let the Dr's keep him on it until he was in the 6th grade. BIG, BIG mistake. I also let the Dr's try my 12 year old on it and he couldn't take it so they put him on a couple of other things,when they didnt work because of severe reactions they wanted to put him on strattera. I did a bunch of research on this and I am here to tell you if I had it to do over I would never ever have put either of my childeren on that stuff. It caused their brain stem to shrink and it can cause other things to happen to them but you won't know about it until they get older. I now have my 12 year old on nothing and the teachers work with him.!! They have to. See alot of the teachers yell that your child need this or that just because 1 they either dont know what to do with a child that is ADHD or 2 they just don't want to fool with them. You need to do lots of research ryouself about these drugs because the Dr's will tell you that they are safe. Of course they get paid to see you every so often to check their blood and check ups and new evaluations every year. Please just do some research. Their are 2 teachers at one of the elementary schools near Milligan College that had to take a course in order to further their education ad they both had my boys and they said they were so so sorry that they ever thought that I should have put them on any of that stuff. The things they learned was priceless. I wish all teachers had to take these courses just to remain a teacher. You can controll the Adhd alot with what they eat. Keep a journal of what your 7 year old eats each day for about 2 weeks and then take some things away that might have caffine or msg or preservitives in it and you might see a difference. It is just trial and error. ADHD is a disability and teachers and the school system have to treat it as such. I hope I have helped and not scared you to death. I just wish the drugs were banned. My 19 year old has alot of problems not because of the ritilin. Good luck!!!!

C. T.

My son was diagnosed at 3 but I didn't put him on medication until his K year. It was after the teacher called and said, "ughm, I think there is something wrong with your son. He keeps getting up and darting across the room and blurting out all the time." Long story short we have been through several of the ADHD medications. One made him have nitemares, another made his keatone level go up and he was not eating....we finally got him on Concerta...it is a 12 hour release and it is out of his system by night fall. We just recently changed him to a milder one, Focalin...something like that but anyway...my advice - Pay attention to the effects the drug has on your child. YOu have to explain it to your peds so they will know what to change..increase or decrease, etc...

Both my older 2 sons are ADHD my oldest is on Adderall xr this year was the first time we actually up his doseage he's 10 and in 5th grade we started meds in 2nd grade every med works differently on kids. He was a different child after being on the meds a few days he went from failing 2nd grade to a straight A student. He now reads on a 10th grade level and is still making straight A's. My middle son we weren't as lucky Adderall made him sleepy and he dropped weight he couldn't afford to loose he was already under weight.We tried ritilin and I didn't really care for the side effects so we are now on Conserta and hes making great strides.Hes and A/B student and is doing great.Hes 8 and in 2nd grade.We held him back in first becouse he just couldn't get it.

Try the meds till you find one that will works. Most of the time they only do 2 weeks worth before making you bring them back to check them before giving a full months but,I don't think that really gives you enough time unless they have really obivious side effects. Its all trial and error.Nobody knows you child like you.Do what you feel is right and make sure you talk to your childs teacher she will help.

Honestly I would get a second opinion because you can always use medicine as a last resort. Behavior Plans work better but some people find it simpler to give medicine and they do not always work. PLus my older brother and myself went to school to be special educators. He is and has been for years and at the last second (student teaching) i found it wasnt for me but I remember a lot of what I learned and one thing is that really they cannot diagnose truly ADD or ADHD until after the child is 8 years old because the part of the brain that controls conscentration areas are not fully developed until you are 8 years old. I think too many children are being diagnosed because the elementary schools are more stuctured now than they used to be. These are just my opinions but if you really dont want your child to be on medicine get a second opinion and use behavior plans. Some medicines do help its all a matter of your preference and choice but they cannot actually diagnose ADHD until after age 8 yrs. I agree with Deloris. More children are being diagnosed with ADD and ADHD and it has a lot to do with the changes that have happened in the past twenty years. Food, Activities, Sleep, and also look at how the schools have changed since we were in early elementary. You get less recess, less time out of the desks, etc. Children have to get up and move because they have lower concentration timeframes. When i was in elementary school we had more breaks, snacks, and more out of desk times than students do now. Talk to different teachers, special educators, and doctors to get a varied answers.